diff --git a/letta/services/tool_manager.py b/letta/services/tool_manager.py
index 7c63bf52..6b877db4 100644
--- a/letta/services/tool_manager.py
+++ b/letta/services/tool_manager.py
@@ -41,18 +41,24 @@ class ToolManager:
     @enforce_types
     def create_or_update_tool(self, pydantic_tool: PydanticTool, actor: PydanticUser) -> PydanticTool:
         """Create a new tool based on the ToolCreate schema."""
-        tool = self.get_tool_by_name(tool_name=pydantic_tool.name, actor=actor)
-        if tool:
+        tool_id = self.get_tool_id_by_name(tool_name=pydantic_tool.name, actor=actor)
+        if tool_id:
             # Put to dict and remove fields that should not be reset
             update_data = pydantic_tool.model_dump(exclude_unset=True, exclude_none=True)
 
             # If there's anything to update
             if update_data:
-                tool = self.update_tool_by_id(tool.id, ToolUpdate(**update_data), actor)
+                # In case we want to update the tool type
+                # Useful if we are shuffling around base tools
+                updated_tool_type = None
+                if "tool_type" in update_data:
+                    updated_tool_type = update_data.get("tool_type")
+                tool = self.update_tool_by_id(tool_id, ToolUpdate(**update_data), actor, updated_tool_type=updated_tool_type)
             else:
                 printd(
                     f"`create_or_update_tool` was called with user_id={actor.id}, organization_id={actor.organization_id}, name={pydantic_tool.name}, but found existing tool with nothing to update."
                 )
+                tool = self.get_tool_by_id(tool_id, actor=actor)
         else:
             tool = self.create_tool(pydantic_tool, actor=actor)
 
@@ -114,6 +120,16 @@ class ToolManager:
         except NoResultFound:
             return None
 
+    @enforce_types
+    def get_tool_id_by_name(self, tool_name: str, actor: PydanticUser) -> Optional[str]:
+        """Retrieve a tool by its name and a user. We derive the organization from the user, and retrieve that tool."""
+        try:
+            with self.session_maker() as session:
+                tool = ToolModel.read(db_session=session, name=tool_name, actor=actor)
+                return tool.id
+        except NoResultFound:
+            return None
+
     @enforce_types
     def list_tools(self, actor: PydanticUser, after: Optional[str] = None, limit: Optional[int] = 50) -> List[PydanticTool]:
         """List all tools with optional pagination."""
@@ -156,7 +172,9 @@ class ToolManager:
             return ToolModel.size(db_session=session, actor=actor, name=LETTA_TOOL_SET)
 
     @enforce_types
-    def update_tool_by_id(self, tool_id: str, tool_update: ToolUpdate, actor: PydanticUser) -> PydanticTool:
+    def update_tool_by_id(
+        self, tool_id: str, tool_update: ToolUpdate, actor: PydanticUser, updated_tool_type: Optional[ToolType] = None
+    ) -> PydanticTool:
         """Update a tool by its ID with the given ToolUpdate object."""
         with self.session_maker() as session:
             # Fetch the tool by ID
@@ -175,6 +193,9 @@ class ToolManager:
                 tool.json_schema = new_schema
                 tool.name = new_schema["name"]
 
+            if updated_tool_type:
+                tool.tool_type = updated_tool_type
+
             # Save the updated tool to the database
             return tool.update(db_session=session, actor=actor).to_pydantic()
 
@@ -248,5 +269,4 @@ class ToolManager:
                 )
 
         # TODO: Delete any base tools that are stale
-
         return tools
diff --git a/tests/test_managers.py b/tests/test_managers.py
index fefa1657..fa69b802 100644
--- a/tests/test_managers.py
+++ b/tests/test_managers.py
@@ -2191,6 +2191,12 @@ def test_update_tool_by_id(server: SyncServer, print_tool, default_user):
     # Assertions to check if the update was successful
     assert updated_tool.description == updated_description
     assert updated_tool.return_char_limit == return_char_limit
+    assert updated_tool.tool_type == ToolType.CUSTOM
+
+    # Dangerous: we bypass safety to give it another tool type
+    server.tool_manager.update_tool_by_id(print_tool.id, tool_update, actor=default_user, updated_tool_type=ToolType.EXTERNAL_LANGCHAIN)
+    updated_tool = server.tool_manager.get_tool_by_id(print_tool.id, actor=default_user)
+    assert updated_tool.tool_type == ToolType.EXTERNAL_LANGCHAIN
 
 
 def test_update_tool_source_code_refreshes_schema_and_name(server: SyncServer, print_tool, default_user):